Gross.
That's not even a pizza. That's a microwavable "pizza in a bag" type deal.
I would feel insulted being given one of these any day, let alone my birthday.
I wish the government hadn't prioritized capital over the worker. Its the worker that makes sure that everything gets done. What happens when people are at their wits end and unable to afford basic things to live? The problem with the inflationary wages is that inflation evaporates the value of your labor, something that should never happen in a rational world. Your wages should never lower because theres more stuff, or more money going around. Its still the same labor. Capital tries to scrape every single last cent out of workers but the game cant carry on forever. AI is the last hope of keeping some status quo. What happens when people's job start getting automated away? They still have things they need but no longer have an income to get those things.
There is hope.
Working for yourself is essentially immune to inflation, as you can simply increase the cost of your services. As long as you're mainly contracting for corporations (who largely benefit from inflation), rather than individuals, they should be able to afford to pay your higher fees especially given that higher prices are an expectation under inflation.
The way I see it, a lot of people are essentially coasting. They got their 9-5, they don't like it, but they don't hate it enough to actively look for something better, or to consider the risk of starting their own business worth it. As things get worse and worse for them, hopefully this lights a fire under enough asses that we start to see more and more people getting fed up, leaving, and starting their own businesses, which should essentially collapse the monolithic business market.
Of course, the question is "if they can barely afford to live, how can they afford to start a company?". There's a few good answer to this. Firstly, there are plenty of businesses that can be started with no capital (I started my software business with $200 to my name) because the product is selling a skill/labor rather than a product (which is still different to being an employee because you retain control of your rates and working conditions), and secondly, the idea that people are "too poor to live" is somewhat of a myth. People have no money left AFTER they buy their Netflix subscriptions, fast food deliveries, and luxury items. People who have a set goal, who save specifically for it, generally do fine, even with a terrible-paying job, as long as they aren't living above their means. America especially, when you look at the statistics, is spending more and more per year on luxuries and convenience, while complaining that there's no money. It's baffling to me how an entire country can be so delusional.